From the moment they are born, children begin learning and adapting to their environment. They do this through sensorimotor development. This stage is the growth that takes place between birth and around two years of age. Utilizing a combination of sensory growth with motor skill development, hence sensorimotor, children can approach many obstacles, head on.
In this article, we will discuss what sensorimotor development is, what it is not, and the substages of this development as children age. If you are familiar with this, please feel free to jump to any section that you would like to learn more about using the content list below.
As always, I am not a doctor, just a dad. My goal is to help spread awareness and information about parenting, fatherhood specifically, and child development.
Jump to Sections:
- What is Sensorimotor Development?
- When Does Sensorimotor Development Take Place?
- 5 Stages of Sensorimotor Development
- Our Thoughts
- Sources
What is Sensorimotor Development?
Sensorimotor development is the process by which newborns and young children learn to perceive, move, and coordinate. It is the first stage of cognitive development in which sensory information from the environment is integrated with motor reactions.
Toddlers learn about the world through their senses, movements, and experiences throughout the sensorimotor period. They learn to coordinate their movements and senses, as well as to recognize cause-and-effect relationships. This stage of development lays the framework for more complex sorts of thinking and problem-solving later in life.
Sensorimotor development is divided into five stages: reflexive movement, primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions, secondary scheme coordination, and tertiary circular reactions. Each stage is distinguished by distinct milestones and developmental achievements that assist youngsters in better understanding and interacting with their surroundings.
Related Article: Parenting Styles Explained
When Does Sensorimotor Development Take Place?
Sensorimotor development begins from birth. This growth of sensory and fine motor skills will continue until at least 24 months. Some children may develop more quickly or more slowly than others, but this does not imply that they have completed or have a delayed start to sensorimotor development. It is important to realize that all children are different.
Comparing your child’s development with others can be the thief of joy. It is also very easy to get caught up in the “highlight reel” of development. All children will face obstacles or situations that they are not comfortable with. It is our job to help guide them through those situations.
The 5 Stages of Sensorimotor Development
The five phases of sensorimotor development are a vital part of a child’s early years, setting the framework for future physical, cognitive, and emotional growth. Each stage is marked by specific sensory perception, movement, and coordination milestones, and each builds on the previous one.
As mentioned previously, the five steps include reflexive movement, primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions, secondary scheme coordination, and tertiary circular reactions. Each stage brings a new level of understanding and contact with the outside world, assisting children in growing and developing in intriguing and meaningful ways.
Reflexive Movement (From Birth)
The initial stage of sensorimotor development is reflexive movement, which occurs in the first month of a baby’s existence. Infants are primarily motivated during this stage by intuitive and automatic reactions such as the rooting reflex, grab reflex, and stepping reflex.
These motions aid in the formation of basic motor patterns that will be developed and refined later in the sensorimotor development process. Babies are not yet able to regulate their motions consciously, and they lack a feeling of object permanence, which means they do not grasp that items exist even when they cannot be seen.
Examples of Reflexive Movement
Rooting
This is the reflex that newborns display when something touches their face. They will typically swing their head left and right searching for a bottle or nipple. Commonly associated with this reflex is sucking. Both of these are crucial and ingrained in them from birth. Rooting will be present usually until around 4 months. At this point, infants are much more confident at locating things near them.
Stepping
Newborns cannot walk, or even hold their heads up, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. This can be displayed when they are held standing up and their feet can touch a flat surface. Stepping will come and go until around 2 months. Don’t worry though, this movement will reappear when they being to discover walking on their own.
Primary Circular Reactions (1 Month)
The primary circular reactions period occurs from 1 to 4 months and is defined by the repetition of simple activities involving the infant’s own body and items in their environment.
Infants are largely motivated by their instincts and spontaneous emotions at this period, and their behaviors are frequently motivated by a desire to replicate a happy experience or to lessen an unpleasant one. The repetition of these acts aids the infant’s development of a feeling of cause and effect as well as their learning of the properties of items in their environment.
Examples of Primary Circular Reactions
Sucking
Babies may look to sucking on their fingers or a pacifier to soothe or entertain themselves.
Looking
An infant may look at objects or people that pique their interest, such as a toy or the face of a caregiver. This repetition aids the infant’s learning of their visual environment and the development of visual memory.
Grasping
Children will often grasp at their toes, legs or arms, or even toys. This is the start of developing object permeance, as they start to associate what objects are and how they can interact with them.
Crying
Babies will often cry in association with discomfort or wants. This can be hunger, affection, or pain. Even though this can be sad to hear, it is good for them, as it is the basis of communication development. They may not know how to correctly vocalize their needs, but they being to understand that they can.
Kicking
During play, sleep, or any other form of stimulating activity, children will kick or throw their arms. What we see as random movement, is a development of motor functions. Repetition allows this to develop much more positively.
Activities to Try
These activities are a great and easy way to keep your child engaged early on. This is also a great time to bond with your child. Helping to develop their primary circular reactions can have a great impact on the later stages of sensorimotor development.
Utilize Toys (My Favorite)
Offer your child easy-to-hold toys. Toys that they can easily grasp will help grow hand-eye coordination. Choosing toys that are easy to shake, have bright colors or sounds, and can be used as a teether is always a plus.
We recommend checking out a company like Lovevery. They offer age-based (to the month) toy kits for every stage of child development.
Offer Different Textures
Giving your child different items to hold, such as toys, clothing, or blankets, is a great way to introduce them to textures. This concentrates on their sense of touch and allows them to be associating touch with different objects.
Tummy Time
While tummy time has its benefits, it can be a great way to allow kicking and arm movement in babies. Encourage them to build those motor functions.
Encourage Repetition
Whether with the toys we talked about or other objects, encourage your child to shake, bite, or even just hold things frequently. Cause and effect can be a great learning tool for sensorimotor development.
Secondary Circular Reactions (4 Months)
The primary circular reactions stage lays the foundation for secondary circular reactions, a step of sensorimotor development. A newborn goes through this stage between the ages of 4 and 8 months, which is characterized by a heightened degree of intentionality and foresight in their interactions with their surroundings.
During the secondary circular reactions stage, infants begin to become more purposeful in their actions and begin to alter their behavior in response to their experiences.
Examples of Secondary Circular Reactions
Building and Knocking Down
Children will begin to stack or just knock down objects that they can. What parents may see as aggression or chaos is just cause-and-effect learning. Babies are beginning to grow the skills they learned in the primary circular reactions stage
Imitation of Others
Infants will start to clap, wave, or smile if others around them do so. This repetition of imitation is great for showcasing social skills and is the start of emotional development.
Object Permeance
While they may not fully grasp this concept, children will begin to understand that objects they cannot see are still there. This can be displayed through “hide” or if they drop a toy behind some furniture and look for it.
Curiosity
This one is a two-edged sword for parents. Children gain curiosity which is amazing for their development, but parents are often pulling them out of sticky situations. This is where ensuring the house is child-proofed comes into play.
Activities to Try
Hide and Seek
Try playing this simple game with your child. Simply cover your face with both hands and then open them. It is always really fun getting a smile out of them. You can also do this with objects such as toys or books.
Puzzles
Introduce puzzles as a fun way to test and teach your child about problem-solving. They probably won’t figure it out right away, but this can spark curiosity and fuel sensorimotor development progress.
Encourage Imitation
A skill they began getting the hang of with primary circular reactions, imitation will be even more fun as they start to truly understand the goal. Help encourage this by waving, smiling, or clapping, and see if they will copy your actions.
Just a quick reminder: Not all children develop sensorimotor skills at the same rate. It is okay if your child is a little behind or a little ahead. These stage timeframes are not set in stone.
Coordination of Secondary Schemes (8 Months)
The coordination of secondary schemes in sensorimotor development refers to the integration of secondary circular reflexes into more complex and coordinated habits. During this development stage, which lasts between 8 and 12 months of age, an infant’s ability to interact with and grasp their environment significantly improves.
At this age, infants begin to incorporate their secondary cycle reflexes into more advanced and structured behavioral patterns.
Examples of Coordination of Secondary Schemes
Using Utensils
Children at this stage may start to use spoons or forks at mealtime. They may not be successful at picking up food with them, but they begin to understand the purpose of utensils. This can also be said for any other “tool-style” objects. One example is hammer toys. These toys allow children to hit a post which in turn lifts another post to be hit.
Climbing and/or Crawling
Here is where children will begin to take that curiosity and basic motor function and put it to the test. They will start to crawl and climb low objects like pillows or a Nugget play system.
Tower Building
Although they will still enjoy knocking things over, they may enjoy building things too! Children may start to understand how pieces go together and will smack them together or place them together. This is still a huge milestone even if they aren’t necessarily stacking the objects. They are beginning to associate like items. you may see this with toy fruits and vegetables, or stacking toys.
Activities to Try
Sensory-centric Toys
Give your child toys that push their sensory development to the limits. These are things that are colorful, textured, and possibly have water or sand.
Imagination Foundation
See if your child will imitate you when it comes to toys. This can be with kitchen toys, a fake phone, or even a tv remote (with or without batteries depending on how much chaos you wish to ensue).
Tower Blocks (Continued)
Keep allowing your child opportunities to test their problem-solving, motor, and sensory skills, with stacking toys. Again, you aren’t looking for stacking per se, but just a basic understanding of what the toy is supposed to do. Encourage always!
Related Article: Montessori Method
Tertiary Circular Reactions (18 Months )
The fifth and final stage of sensorimotor development is tertiary circular reactions. Starting at around 18 months and continuing until at least 24 months, this stage is a culmination of the previous four. At this point, children have at least found a good understanding of what communication is, and how simple cause and effect works, and have started to figure out object permeance.
It is during this time that parents can begin creating more exciting and challenging learning scenarios with the other four stages in mind.
Examples of Tertiary Circular Reactions
Communication
Children may be able to speak very simple words at this point, such as: eat, mom and dad, or milk. Depending on your parental methods, they may even know “baby sign language” really well. Using hand gestures to signal their wants and needs is an incredible milestone.
Fine Motor Skills
You may be able to present crayons to your child and get a pretty awesome drawing (in the style of Picasso). The utensils may be a walk in the park now that they’re able to use them correctly. Stacking blocks and other items may also be a pretty simple task for them.
Advanced Imitation
Depending on where your child is with fine motor skills, they may be able to imitate brushing their teeth, wiping their face, or making funny faces.
Activities to Try
You can try anything at this point. Children that are at this stage of sensorimotor development are ready to be challenged with problem-solving, puzzles, and new and exciting toys. It is really up to you, the parent, to keep them engaged, stimulated, and challenged.
See if they will play kitchen or doctor with you. You can also introduce new things for them to imitate and communicate. We enjoy reading to our daughter and have found that when she wants to read a book, she will bring us one. Try this with your little one and let us know how it goes!
Our Thoughts
Sensorimotor Development is two big words that can be tough to understand for most people. I hope that this article helped you gain some knowledge you didn’t have or didn’t understand. Learning that each stage compounds with the next and that development boosts your child’s sensory and motor skills is the key. It is less about knowing what each stage is and more about understanding what your child is learning and how they need to be guided to learn.
If you understand sensorimotor development you will be better equipped to assist your child in their developmental process. From toys and games to fine motor skills and problem-solving, all of these factor into providing them with the best learning tools.
I encourage you to take the time to learn your child’s needs and wants, how they communicate, and how they best learn new things. Also, remember that this process is not exact for every child and all children are different. If your child is behind in some things or ahead in some things, that is alright.
If you do have doubts and can’t shake them or a truly concerned bout your child’s development, please reach out to your child’s pediatrician for more information.
Sources
Cognitive Development (Scholarly Journal)
Stuart Marcovitch, Ph.D. (2023)
Infant Behavior and Development vol. 71
Martha Arterberry, Ph.D. (2023-Presently in Work)
Encyclopedia of Infant and Early Childhood Development (Reference Work)
Marshall M. Haith and Janette B. Benson (2022-Presently in Revision)
Thank You for Reading
If you made it through this entire article, thank you! Thank you for taking the time to read what I put out here for you. If you enjoyed it, please check out some more of our articles like the ones below!
